Jim Stillman
M-Kaz
The “War on Christmas”: A Phony War
December 25th 2007 20:51
Christmas has had a controversial history, often disparaged by religious leaders and manipulated by opportunists.
Bill O’Reilly, John Gibson, Fox News and others can now relax and stand down, As a person of faith, although not a Christian, writing on Christmas Day, I am able to offer, perhaps, a non-passionate and quieter perspective on what some perceive to be a secular and cultural attack in religion and faith. This belief comes from two main sources.
There are, first, sincere Christians with concern that their faith is not being sufficiently recognized and celebrated in this pluralistic society. Thus, when Christian ritual and displays are not erected or recognized by Government or where private merchants attempt to be inclusive of non-Christmas customers by encouraging a wish for a happy generic holiday, these positions are taken as an attack on the Christian faith. The second source of unhappiness is political conservatives using the alleged disparagement of Christmas as part of an agenda to promote their political causes and candidates or, in the case of Fox News’ people, to increase ratings.
One of the basic principles that those with both viewpoints and motivations ignore is that there are two Christmas holidays, each with its own traditions, music and history.
Christmas is a religious holiday.
When some complain that the meaning of Christmas is lost or being threatened, they are not referring to the religious holiday; in fact, Christmas's self-proclaimed defenders are rewriting the holiday's history. They claim the "traditional" American Christmas is under attack by what John Gibson, a Fox anchor, calls "professional atheists" and "Christian haters." But America has a complicated history with Christmas, going back to the Puritans, who despised it. What those who would boycott stores whose employees wish patrons a “Happy Holiday” are doing is not defending America's Christmas traditions, but creating a new version of the holiday that fits a political agenda.
Ask most people about the origin of Christmas, the answer would be a holiday created to celebrate the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. But that is only a small part of the story.
Virtually all pre-Christian and pre-Judaic cultures, at least in the northern hemisphere, celebrated a holiday at or near the winter solstice. For primitive peoples, the seemingly rebirth of the sun was an occasion for celebration and, even, worship. When Christian leaders attempted to convert pagans to Christianity, they told the latter that the old holidays could remain but were assigned new meanings and traditions. There is nothing in the Christian Bible that refers to a date or even season for the birth of Jesus; by the fourth century, the Roman church had adopted December 25th, likely to incorporate the festival of Saturnalia.
By the third century, there were many religions and spiritual mysteries being followed within the Roman Empire. Many, if not most, celebrated the birth of their god-man near the time of the solstice. Emperor Aurelian (270 to 275) blended a number of pagan solstice celebrations of the nativity of such god-men/saviors as Apollo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on December 25th. At the time, Mithraism and Christianity were fierce competitors. Aurelian had even declared Mithraism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 274; Christianity won out by becoming the new official religion in the fourth century.
But Christmas, as a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus was not always accepted. The Puritans, in Great Britain and, later, in the United States rejected the holiday, primarily because of its pagan origins. In fact, in my home state of Massachusetts, Christmas was totally banned!
The Puritans who immigrated to Massachusetts to build a new life had several reasons for disliking Christmas. First of all, it reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, which they were trying to escape. Second, they didn't consider the holiday a truly religious day. December 25th wasn't selected as the birth date of Christ until several centuries after his death. Third, the holiday celebration usually included drinking, feasting, and playing games - all things which the Puritans frowned upon. One such tradition, "wassailing" occasionally turned violent. The older custom entailed people of lower economic class visiting wealthier community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink in return for toasts to their hosts' health. If a host refused, there was the threat of retribution. (This sounds mightily like “Trick or Treat” during Halloween.) Fourth, the British had been applying pressure on the Puritans for a while to conform to English customs. The ban was probably as much a political choice as it was a religious one for many.
The law, enacted in 1659, provided:
Today, religious Christians celebrate Christmas openly as a celebration of Jesus’ birth. However, the so-called War on Christmas is simply an unwillingness to appreciate the second type of the holiday, one that is secular and general. The celebration of the “secular Christmas” has a long tradition in this country.
Christmas is, also, a secular holiday.
The roots of the secular side of Christmas go deep. In 1780, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” was written, extolling the idea of gift-giving and, later, going to the Mall. According to recent polls, about 96 % of Americans celebrate Christmas to some extent and 14 % are non-Christians.
Christmas has become, in the United States certainly, a secular holiday.
Throughout the 20th century, the United States experienced much anguish over the nature of the day, and its dual status as a religious holy day and a cultural holiday of the same name. The importance of the economic impact of the secular Christmas holiday was reinforced in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed moving the Thanksgiving holiday date to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy during the Depression. Religious leaders and social conservatives protested this move, warning of the dangers of an increasingly commercial Christmas.
Christmas gained popularity when it was transformed into a domestic celebration, after the publication Moore's "Visit from St. Nicholas" and Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly drawings, which created the image of a white-bearded Santa who gave gifts to children. Some say the popular image of a red-suited Santa is a gift of Coca-Cola! The new emphasis lessened religious leaders' worries that the holiday would be given over to drinking and swearing, but it introduced another concern: commercialism.
By the 1920's, the retail industry had adopted Christmas as its own, sponsoring annual ceremonies to kick off the "Christmas shopping season." Religious leaders objected strongly over what was a rush to commercialism. In the 1965 TV special, Charlie Brown ignores Lucy's advice to "get the biggest aluminum tree you can find" and her assertion that Christmas is "a big commercial racket," and finds a more spiritual way to observe the day. Overall, however, Lucy’s opinions have seized the day.
Notwithstanding this opposition and the objections of civil liberties group, the Federal government has designated Christmas Day as a secular national holiday. The Supreme Court has allowed public displays of “holiday” images, sometimes drawing a difficult to discern line between that overly sacred to Christianity and that having a secular atmosphere.
The social conservatives, and Fox News, have gladly adopted the alleged outrage over the commercialization of Christmas to promote their political agenda, to energize the G.O.P. base. The horror of a commercial business wishing customers “Season Greetings” or “Happy Holiday” is not an assault on Christians or Christianity; it is an attempt to welcome all of its patrons.
And inclusion and acceptance of all people is what Christmas is supposed to be about, isn’t it?
We have, now, ten more months before Messrs. O’Reilly, Beck, Gibson and their cohorts again raise the banners for a phony war.
Bill O’Reilly, John Gibson, Fox News and others can now relax and stand down, As a person of faith, although not a Christian, writing on Christmas Day, I am able to offer, perhaps, a non-passionate and quieter perspective on what some perceive to be a secular and cultural attack in religion and faith. This belief comes from two main sources.
There are, first, sincere Christians with concern that their faith is not being sufficiently recognized and celebrated in this pluralistic society. Thus, when Christian ritual and displays are not erected or recognized by Government or where private merchants attempt to be inclusive of non-Christmas customers by encouraging a wish for a happy generic holiday, these positions are taken as an attack on the Christian faith. The second source of unhappiness is political conservatives using the alleged disparagement of Christmas as part of an agenda to promote their political causes and candidates or, in the case of Fox News’ people, to increase ratings.
One of the basic principles that those with both viewpoints and motivations ignore is that there are two Christmas holidays, each with its own traditions, music and history.
Christmas is a religious holiday.
When some complain that the meaning of Christmas is lost or being threatened, they are not referring to the religious holiday; in fact, Christmas's self-proclaimed defenders are rewriting the holiday's history. They claim the "traditional" American Christmas is under attack by what John Gibson, a Fox anchor, calls "professional atheists" and "Christian haters." But America has a complicated history with Christmas, going back to the Puritans, who despised it. What those who would boycott stores whose employees wish patrons a “Happy Holiday” are doing is not defending America's Christmas traditions, but creating a new version of the holiday that fits a political agenda.
Ask most people about the origin of Christmas, the answer would be a holiday created to celebrate the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. But that is only a small part of the story.
Virtually all pre-Christian and pre-Judaic cultures, at least in the northern hemisphere, celebrated a holiday at or near the winter solstice. For primitive peoples, the seemingly rebirth of the sun was an occasion for celebration and, even, worship. When Christian leaders attempted to convert pagans to Christianity, they told the latter that the old holidays could remain but were assigned new meanings and traditions. There is nothing in the Christian Bible that refers to a date or even season for the birth of Jesus; by the fourth century, the Roman church had adopted December 25th, likely to incorporate the festival of Saturnalia.
By the third century, there were many religions and spiritual mysteries being followed within the Roman Empire. Many, if not most, celebrated the birth of their god-man near the time of the solstice. Emperor Aurelian (270 to 275) blended a number of pagan solstice celebrations of the nativity of such god-men/saviors as Apollo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on December 25th. At the time, Mithraism and Christianity were fierce competitors. Aurelian had even declared Mithraism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 274; Christianity won out by becoming the new official religion in the fourth century.
But Christmas, as a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus was not always accepted. The Puritans, in Great Britain and, later, in the United States rejected the holiday, primarily because of its pagan origins. In fact, in my home state of Massachusetts, Christmas was totally banned!
The Puritans who immigrated to Massachusetts to build a new life had several reasons for disliking Christmas. First of all, it reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, which they were trying to escape. Second, they didn't consider the holiday a truly religious day. December 25th wasn't selected as the birth date of Christ until several centuries after his death. Third, the holiday celebration usually included drinking, feasting, and playing games - all things which the Puritans frowned upon. One such tradition, "wassailing" occasionally turned violent. The older custom entailed people of lower economic class visiting wealthier community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink in return for toasts to their hosts' health. If a host refused, there was the threat of retribution. (This sounds mightily like “Trick or Treat” during Halloween.) Fourth, the British had been applying pressure on the Puritans for a while to conform to English customs. The ban was probably as much a political choice as it was a religious one for many.
The law, enacted in 1659, provided:
"For preventing disorders, arising in several places within this jurisdiction by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence five shilling as a fine to the county."
Today, religious Christians celebrate Christmas openly as a celebration of Jesus’ birth. However, the so-called War on Christmas is simply an unwillingness to appreciate the second type of the holiday, one that is secular and general. The celebration of the “secular Christmas” has a long tradition in this country.
Christmas is, also, a secular holiday.
The roots of the secular side of Christmas go deep. In 1780, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” was written, extolling the idea of gift-giving and, later, going to the Mall. According to recent polls, about 96 % of Americans celebrate Christmas to some extent and 14 % are non-Christians.
Christmas has become, in the United States certainly, a secular holiday.
Throughout the 20th century, the United States experienced much anguish over the nature of the day, and its dual status as a religious holy day and a cultural holiday of the same name. The importance of the economic impact of the secular Christmas holiday was reinforced in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed moving the Thanksgiving holiday date to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy during the Depression. Religious leaders and social conservatives protested this move, warning of the dangers of an increasingly commercial Christmas.
Christmas gained popularity when it was transformed into a domestic celebration, after the publication Moore's "Visit from St. Nicholas" and Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly drawings, which created the image of a white-bearded Santa who gave gifts to children. Some say the popular image of a red-suited Santa is a gift of Coca-Cola! The new emphasis lessened religious leaders' worries that the holiday would be given over to drinking and swearing, but it introduced another concern: commercialism.
By the 1920's, the retail industry had adopted Christmas as its own, sponsoring annual ceremonies to kick off the "Christmas shopping season." Religious leaders objected strongly over what was a rush to commercialism. In the 1965 TV special, Charlie Brown ignores Lucy's advice to "get the biggest aluminum tree you can find" and her assertion that Christmas is "a big commercial racket," and finds a more spiritual way to observe the day. Overall, however, Lucy’s opinions have seized the day.
Notwithstanding this opposition and the objections of civil liberties group, the Federal government has designated Christmas Day as a secular national holiday. The Supreme Court has allowed public displays of “holiday” images, sometimes drawing a difficult to discern line between that overly sacred to Christianity and that having a secular atmosphere.
The social conservatives, and Fox News, have gladly adopted the alleged outrage over the commercialization of Christmas to promote their political agenda, to energize the G.O.P. base. The horror of a commercial business wishing customers “Season Greetings” or “Happy Holiday” is not an assault on Christians or Christianity; it is an attempt to welcome all of its patrons.
And inclusion and acceptance of all people is what Christmas is supposed to be about, isn’t it?
We have, now, ten more months before Messrs. O’Reilly, Beck, Gibson and their cohorts again raise the banners for a phony war.
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Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Read your post and would just like to add a few points from another angle.
War in Christmas as described by some people is often vague about what they are at war and the the nature of the war. Often they mean a phylosophical and socilialized war rather than a physical. Just like the term war on drugs or war on low prices.
I have no doubt that there are professional atheists and the like who have been bitten by Scrooge bug at Christmas time. Very small but noisy minority, usually remnents of old socialists or just vitriolic people.
One such example occured a few years ago in Australia when one parent objected to one Christmas carol being sung at a kids concert. Most people have heard these songs in shopping centre and on television so most could not care. However this man reported it to local state minister of education and a state wide ban was enforced. When interviewed the mans reasoning was he didn't want his kids minds poluted with anything Christian.
However I have not seen any of the bans on Nativity Scene that we see in the news from America. People are less sensitive about this matter than some would like. I have never seen a Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim protest against religious expressions at Christmas in Australia. JUst individuals with an axe to grind.
Historically England stopped looking at Christmas as a celebration after Queen Elizabeth 1 and Cromwell's time. They pretty much took the Calvinist and puritan line be seeing life as the tears before happiness in heaven. If you are too happy it is bad.
This changed after Queen Victoria married a German and in doing so brought many of their customs to England. The Chrismas tree etc and Changing Christmas to a celebration. Charlse Dickin's Christmas Carol helped make that social change.
The commercialization of Christmas has not help elevate the day much. So for many people it is just another Roman Holiday. In this regard the rampant consumerism does detract from the more important personal reasons for Christmas. I also suspect that it makes it a more stressful and less happy time for some.
However most I know do not run around screaming about the war on Christmas or for Christmas but enjoy the day regardless.
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Lester Caudill
Round Politics
In the past years there was a real push by atheist aided by the ACLU, to be very contentious about religious symbols, and it went to far, and was very petty. This Christmas there has not been much said as I believe, the Folks as Bill Oreilly calls them have took a stand, and wasn't going to take it any more.
I agree with Damo people usually just goes about their business regardless, and celebrates Christmas as they wish. It has become a commercialized holiday, and the true meaning of Christmas has been lost. I myself don't believe that this is the actual day Christ was born, but it's been set aside to recognize the Birth of Christ.
In the Book of Luke you can read how that in the sixth month the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her of the birth of Jesus, and adding 9 months to that it would make the birth of Christ sometime in March. That should be when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, but since I can't change it myself we will have to leave it as it is.
So Jim with honest Christians being left with no other day to recognize or celebrate Christmas why would you want to attack them for saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, shouldn't Christians be allowed to celebrate in their own chosen way.
Why are seculars so offend by something they don't believe anyway I feel that is just petty and foolish. Maybe it's their way of trying to be a Grinch and steal Christmas from people that want to enjoy a nice season of tradition.
And yes for Christian it is tradition for it has be celebrated this way for generations we don't know any other form of tradition of Christmas. Folks that love Christmas gets highly offend when some one tries to interfere with their favorite time of the year.
But most don't really think why they celebrate it's just something that has been handed down to them by their parents, and their parents, parents.
So all that don't like Christmas just CHILL out it only comes once a year, have fun enjoy the spirit of Love.
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by Jim Stillman
Political Certainty
As for me, when I am wished a “merry Christmas” I would not be so rude as to rebuke the person; I respond, “And a Merry Christmas to you.”
One point I was trying to make, and do so again in a future post on same-sex marriage or civil unions, is that the “War on Christmas” is used, cynically and for partisan political purposes, to stir the electoral conservative base.
Meanwhile, I sincerely hope that your Christmas was filled with family and love and health and that the coming year is similarly blessed.
Comment by Lester Caudill
Round Politics
Or it is when Merry Christmas is forbidden to be said by the Merchants like Wal-Mart did a couple of years ago.
I realize that there are two Christmas meanings one for Religion and the other for secular on this we agree. I do agree with the political part, because there was a real effort to take Christ out of Christmas by some seculars in the past, and if not for the conservative base it would have happened.
Hey Jeff sounds like you have it figured out, after Christmas is the best time to get bargains. It doesn't matter when you celebrate Christmas or what ever you want to called it as long as you are happen, and you are together with the ones you love. Wish you a very happen and prosperous New Year Jeff.
Comment by Jim Stillman
Political Certainty
Some people may feel this is disrespectful, but the usage was well settled long before Target and Wal-Mart were even a dream!
Comment by Lester Caudill
Round Politics
Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
I don't really care whether my beliefs match the ones of that person, and think it beyond rude and rather silly to be offended by someone's well-meant good wishes.
Entities like Foxnet (and the interested parties which use Foxnet) exist for the sole purpose of getting large groups of people (i.e. Christian Republicans) pissed off at other large groups of people (i.e. Liberal Democrats) and it seems to work a lot of the time; a very scary thought. Where are all of the independent thinkers nowadays?
Reminds me of Orwell's sheep on Animal Farm: "Four legs good, two legs bad!!"